D.F. Oliveria

It has been almost three years since Tom Wobker shuffled off this mortal coil. But his poetry, penned under the nom de plume, The Bard of Sherman Avenue, remains popular.

Avondale Lake’s neighbors were watching out for a couple of boys playing on thin ice.

Long before John Shuster led the U.S. men’s curling team to Olympic gold, the Utility Now Known As Avista was touting the merits of the sport.

Rebecca Schroeder, now of Coeur d’Alene, remembers how Gritz and his followers introduced fear and political turmoil into her childhood hometown of Kooskia.

With a sly grin, John Austin admits he liked to window shop but not buy as a young man growing up in the shadow of the now-defunct Wallace bordellos. But it was something else for his classmates at the University of Idaho.

As Idaho legislators prepare to be wined, dined and hypnotized by monied puppet masters and lobbyists for another session, the voice of a favorite journalistic curmudgeon sounds from long ago.

Every holiday season brings much goodwill. But there are also random acts of meanness that cause us pause.

After three Chihuahuas and a long-haired German shepherd, Kevin and Wendi Powell, of Rathdrum, decided to go big. Really big. They fell in love with Moose, an abandoned English mastiff, during a visit to a Southern California animal shelter this year. Baby Moose, who keeps Kevin company at his Triple 7 Fabrication shop on Boekel Road, shares the same Valentine’s Day birthday with the Powells’ 9-month-old daughter, Raegan. But that isn’t the only connection. Kevin has a fondness for English mastiffs that dates back to the film, “The Sandlot.” Kevin grew up in Aqua Dulce, California, playing sandlot baseball, from morning until night, with Marty York, the actor who later played Alan “Yeah-Yeah” McClennan. Yeah, that “Yeah-Yeah.” Kevin has an affection for one-liners from the film – like, “You’re killing me, Smalls” – and English mastiffs. His mastiff, Moose, has a gentle temperament, much like “The Beast,” who at first terrorized “Sandlot” denizens Squints, Smalls, Ham, Yeah-Yeah, and the dreams of many young fans, until he showed off his stash of baseballs and showered them with slobbery kisses. Aryans, Smaryans

The clock is winding down on Jim Hammond’s long career of public service to Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene. Councilman. Mayor. State senator. And city administrator in both Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene. Hammond will retire as Coeur d’Alene city administrator at year’s end.

On this day in 1967, as the Vietnam War raged, a political ad appeared in the lower righthand corner of the Coeur d’Alene Press. The ad, sponsored by the Community Action Committee, was backed by then mayor L.L. Gardner and three former Coeur d’Alene mayors – Marc Souther, P.A. Christianson, and O.W. Edmonds. They all supported an energetic political newcomer in his five-way race for one of two council seats.

Has it been 25 years since the late Sheriff Frank Crnkovich faced trial on corruption charges that changed the pecking order in Shoshone County? Indeed. To the day.

A first-of-its-kind ordinance in Idaho dedicated to public art has helped transform Coeur d’Alene into a bonanza for publicly-owned art.

Pecky Cox, of Priest Lake, hunts mushrooms alone. Mushroomers are like huckleberry pickers.

DFO Day in CdA

We had a sweet time at the Huckleberries Farewell-fest tonight. Many came. We roasted and toasted. Brilliant photog/friend Brian Plonka snapped this photo. Also, Don Sausser posted a number of photos on his Facebook wall. You can find a link to them below.

Occasionally, Tom Wobker wrote about me. There's 3 or 4 rhymes in "The Bard of Sherman Avenue: Poems by Tom Wobker." Here's one I saved for this special occasion. Also, I saved this cartoon from Noah Kroese.

In 50 years, D.F. “Dave” Oliveria has come full circle. He graduated from high school at age 17 in ’67. Now, he’s 67 in ’17. And he’s retiring. This will be his last column. Forty-seven years in the newspaper biz ends today. So let’s bring out Dave’s final set of three dots.

Here's Mrs. O and I after renewing our vows on our 40th anniversary two years ago at the JACC in Post Falls. At 5 o'clock today, she will have my less-divided attention as we greet the Huckleberries Online crowd at the Fort Ground Grill. Afterward, we'll go on dancing through life. I'll miss you guys.